A violent robber who battered a shopkeeper in a sustained attack with a stick was jailed.

Cocaine addict Dean Williams, 29, went into a newsagents on Rocky Lane in Tuebrook with a second man before subjecting the owner, Ahmed Zindani, to a two and a half minute beating on the evening of November 18.

Rebecca Smith, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how Williams, who was masked, wearing gloves and wielding a large white stick, marched straight up to Mr Zindani and started hitting him.

Shocking CCTV footage, played to the court, captured the entire incident.

Ms Smith described Mr Zindani raising his arms to ward off Williams while he punched him in the face, hit him over the head with the stick and kneed him in the chest while demanding he hand over cash.

Mr Zindani, who has run the newsagents since 1985, tried to pull off his mask but was struck again until he told his attacker to just take the whole till as he couldn’t open it.

A second robber stood watching and warned a regular customer who was also present that he had a gun and to stay where he was, though no gun was seen.

Eventually the till was ripped off the counter and the robbers made off with it and between £600 and £700 while Mr Zindani was taken to hospital with facial injuries.

His daughter returned to the newsagents and saw two men going into a nearby house on Rocky Lane carrying a bulky object and when police checked the house they found a bloodied spindle and latex gloves with Williams’ DNA on it.

Williams, of Belmont Drive, just off Rocky Lane, who has 18 convictions for 41 offences including robbery and possession of a knife, later pleaded guilty to robbery and breach of a suspended sentence imposed for growing cannabis.

Neil Gunn, defending, said Williams had a £100-a-day cocaine habit and owed money to drug dealers but could lead a “law-abiding life” when free from drugs.

He added that Williams’ partner was due to give birth in a month and he wanted to be released in time for him to be a role model while his child was still young.

Judge Alan Conrad, QC, jailed him for six years plus an extra year for the breach of the suspended sentence, saying: “I’ve had the advantage of seeing the CCTV footage played to the court.

"What that discloses is a prolonged attack carried out by two masked men both carrying sticks. You subjected the shopkeeper to a vicious attack with sustained violence that was clearly terrifying.”